U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, Acquisition Center (AMSTA-AQ-DS), Warren, MI 48397-5000

A -- LIGHTWEIGHT ROBOTIC AND SEMIAUTONOMOUS GROUND VEHICLE MOBILITY AND SURVIVABILITY ENHANCEMENTS SOL DAAE07-98-Q-BAA1 POC Ms. Sharon Wisniewski (810) 574-7634 WEB: Proposer Information for Research Announcement DAAE07-98-Q-BAA1, http://www.tacom.army.mil/Acq_Cen/baa/98qbaa1.htm. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contract Specialist, wisniews@cc.tacom.army.mil. (This is part one of a two part announcement.) This is an abbreviated research announcement for the unrestricted, competitive solicitation of basic, applied, and advanced research abstracts, and eventually, proposals. In addition to this announcement, you must obtain detailed information and instructions listed as Proposer Information for RA (Research Announcement) 98-Q-BAA1 on the TACOM Acquisition Center website (www.tacom.army.mil/Acq_Cen, choose Warren, then Broad Agency Announcement). The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Research and Development Center (TARDEC), Warren, Michigan, is seeking innovative technologies in 8 areas listed below. No other solicitation or Request for Proposal will be issued, and you should monitor the CBD and TACOM website for possible changes to this announcement. WHAT WE WANT (TOPICS): We desire proposals addressing the development and demonstration of technologies, components, and subsystems to enable lightweight robotic and semiautonomous ground vehicles to achieve on-road and off-road mobility and survivability comparable to that of current manned wheeled and tracked military vehicles. There are 8 topic areas of interest: "Smart" Drive Wheels; "Smart" Running Gear; "Smart" Tires; Multi-wheel Vehicle Central Command, Control, and Coordination; Power Management and Distribution; Virtual Tandem Vehicle Operation; Electric Power Generation; and Other Topics that can Enhance Inherent Intelligent Chassis Functions. We require an interim technology demonstration by 30 Sep 98 and a final demonstration 12 months after award. We will also require technical information, a scalability report, and a mobility benefits report. Details on the technical background, topics, and deliverables are on the website listed at the top of this announcement. WHAT WE WANT (MECHANICS): To save you the expense of preparing a formal proposal that doesn't meet our needs, and save the taxpayer cost of our evaluating those proposals, we'd like qualified offerors to submit abstracts (or "white papers") by December 30, 1997. We'll review them and invite those who've submitted the most promising abstracts to then submit a more detailed proposal (details on the website listed above). We expect to award one or more assistance instruments, but we may also award one or more contracts. We reserve the right to select for award any, all, part or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. There is no guarantee that awards will be made in each of the identified topic areas and we will rank proposals in each topic area separately. We may award several proposals in a topic area depending in part on the cost of individual proposals and available funding. You may submit multiple abstracts (and proposals) but only one topic (or combination of topics) per abstract is permitted. No funding is currently available, but we expect to have up to $2.5M available. We will not maintain a bidders mailing list for this announcement. Because it's impractical to define and exclusively reserve severable areas of research in robotics technology among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Institutions (MI), no portion of this announcement will be set aside for them. However, we do encourage Small Businesses, HBCUs and MIs to submit proposals. This announcement closes February 10, 1998 (abstracts are due December 30, 1997) and we anticipate award by March 13, 1998. (0345)

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